Users of Second Life have developed their own language and jargon to describe common experiences, actions, and references to things that occur frequently or are unique to Second Life.
1L – First Life / Real World.
2L – Second Life.
Alt – Another avatar/account in Second Life used by the same person.
AFK – Away from keyboard. Resident is logged in but not at his or her computer.
AO – Animation override. The process of a script or animation taking control of your avatar’s actions. Used in HUDs, pose balls, and other objects.
Avatar (av, avi) – Your personal representation within Second Life.
Bling – The animated sparkling effect - usually particles - radiating from some objects.
Dance Ball – An object that contains a dance animation file. When you click on it your avatar’s actions will be overridden to act out the animation.
Estate - A collection of regions that has tools available to help landowners manage multiple regions more easily.
Furry – An avatar that looks like an anthropomorphic animal.
Gesture - A combination of animations, poses, and possibly sound or chat that your avatar can perform. It can be triggered by a keyboard shortcut or phrase.
Grid – Collection of Sims linked together. Several grids exist including the Main Grid and Teen Grid in Second Life, and non-Second Life Grids that use the OpenSim platform. [Update: As of August 2010, Linden Lab announced that the Teen Grid would be closing in December 2010.]
Griefing – Acting in a way or using objects to purposely annoy or interrupt someone else, being a "griefer."
Group – An organization of Second Life residents. An active group title may appear above an avatar’s name. Group members have
additional communication and land management options.
HUD – Heads Up Display, a custom interface that objects can place on your screen.
IRL – In real life.
Inventory – The collection of everything your avatar owns: objects, notecards, scripts, and landmarks.
In-world – Referring to things within Second Life.
Islands – Land that is part of a grid but not directly connected to the mainland.
Lindex – The trading market that determines the value of Linden Dollars to real dollars. Rates fluctuate based on demand and other factors.
LL – Linden Lab (no s at the end). The company that created Second Life.
LM – Landmark. A specific location within Second Life or the "bookmark" object one can save to inventory to a specific location.
Local Chat/Voice – Text or Voice Chat that is only audible to avatars close to your location.
LSL – Linden Scripting Language, an Object Oriented Programming Language that gives objects interactivity in SL.
L$ - Linden Dollars, the currency used to buy things in-world. The real world value of Linden Dollars fluctuates.
Machinima – The process of making an animated movie using Second Life to act out the scenes.
Mainland - Regions or sims that are organized into large continents and managed by Linden Lab.
MMO / MMOG / MMORPG - Massively Multiplayer On-line Role Playing Game.
Noob/ Newb / Newbie / n00b – A new user. This term can be meant as an insult depending upon the context.
Object – A prim or connected group of prims.
Parcel - A subdivision of virtual land smaller than a Region. The smallest parcel size is 16 square meters.
Pose Ball - An object that contains an animation file. By clicking on it your avatar’s actions will be overridden to act out the ball’s animation.
Primitive (Prim) – The geometric shapes that all objects in Second Life are made of, analogous to the "legos" or building blocks of Second Life.
Private Island – A region owned by a resident and not attached to the Mainland.
Region – A named area within Second Life, also commonly called a Sim (Simulator) or Island.
Resident – A member of Second Life is called a "resident" instead of a user or player.
Rezzing (Rez) – The process of creating an object in-world. When you pull an object from your inventory it will “rez” into existence.
RL – Real life.
Ruthed – An error that causes you to appear in a Sim as the default female Avatar shape, whose name is Ruth, and not your customized appearance.
Sandbox – An area where anyone can create or rez objects. Public sandboxes are very popular with builders and griefers.
Shape – The shape of your Avatar’s body. New shapes can be applied to change your appearance and even turn into nonhumanoid things.
Sim – Short for Simulator. A 256 square meter block of land. Sims can further be divided into Parcels.
Skin – The texture applied to your Shape.
SL – Second Life.
SLT – Second Life Time. The same as Pacific Standard Time.
SLurl – Short for Second Life URL. Can be entered in a web browser to allow teleportation to a location within SL.
Skybox – A large open area in the sky above a Sim. Cannot be reached by unassisted flight. May contain floating platforms or buildings.
Telehub (Hub) – The place set by the owner of a region where avatars arrive when teleporting. Originally, avatars could only teleport to a single telehub per region, but it is now possible to teleport to any point in a region if the landowner allows it.
Teleport (TP) –The method of instantly moving from one place to another within Second Life.
Texture – An image applied to the surface of a Prim, clothing, or other surface in Second Life.
ToS – Terms of Service. The rules and legal terms for using Second Life.
University of Cincinnati Second life Learning Community – Second Life Slang
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License.
To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0
or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.
Second Life Slang
Users of Second Life have developed their own language and jargon to describe common experiences, actions, and references to things that occur frequently or are unique to Second Life.
1L – First Life / Real World.
2L – Second Life.
Alt – Another avatar/account in Second Life used by the same person.
AFK – Away from keyboard. Resident is logged in but not at his or her computer.
AO – Animation override. The process of a script or animation taking control of your avatar’s actions. Used in HUDs, pose balls, and other objects.
Avatar (av, avi) – Your personal representation within Second Life.
Bling – The animated sparkling effect - usually particles - radiating from some objects.
Dance Ball – An object that contains a dance animation file. When you click on it your avatar’s actions will be overridden to act out the animation.
Estate - A collection of regions that has tools available to help landowners manage multiple regions more easily.
Furry – An avatar that looks like an anthropomorphic animal.
Gesture - A combination of animations, poses, and possibly sound or chat that your avatar can perform. It can be triggered by a keyboard shortcut or phrase.
Grid – Collection of Sims linked together. Several grids exist including the Main Grid and Teen Grid in Second Life, and non-Second Life Grids that use the OpenSim platform. [Update: As of August 2010, Linden Lab announced that the Teen Grid would be closing in December 2010.]
Griefing – Acting in a way or using objects to purposely annoy or interrupt someone else, being a "griefer."
Group – An organization of Second Life residents. An active group title may appear above an avatar’s name. Group members have
additional communication and land management options.
HUD – Heads Up Display, a custom interface that objects can place on your screen.
IRL – In real life.
Inventory – The collection of everything your avatar owns: objects, notecards, scripts, and landmarks.
In-world – Referring to things within Second Life.
Islands – Land that is part of a grid but not directly connected to the mainland.
Lindex – The trading market that determines the value of Linden Dollars to real dollars. Rates fluctuate based on demand and other factors.
LL – Linden Lab (no s at the end). The company that created Second Life.
LM – Landmark. A specific location within Second Life or the "bookmark" object one can save to inventory to a specific location.
Local Chat/Voice – Text or Voice Chat that is only audible to avatars close to your location.
LSL – Linden Scripting Language, an Object Oriented Programming Language that gives objects interactivity in SL.
L$ - Linden Dollars, the currency used to buy things in-world. The real world value of Linden Dollars fluctuates.
Machinima – The process of making an animated movie using Second Life to act out the scenes.
Mainland - Regions or sims that are organized into large continents and managed by Linden Lab.
MMO / MMOG / MMORPG - Massively Multiplayer On-line Role Playing Game.
Noob/ Newb / Newbie / n00b – A new user. This term can be meant as an insult depending upon the context.
Object – A prim or connected group of prims.
Parcel - A subdivision of virtual land smaller than a Region. The smallest parcel size is 16 square meters.
Pose Ball - An object that contains an animation file. By clicking on it your avatar’s actions will be overridden to act out the ball’s animation.
Primitive (Prim) – The geometric shapes that all objects in Second Life are made of, analogous to the "legos" or building blocks of Second Life.
Private Island – A region owned by a resident and not attached to the Mainland.
Region – A named area within Second Life, also commonly called a Sim (Simulator) or Island.
Resident – A member of Second Life is called a "resident" instead of a user or player.
Rezzing (Rez) – The process of creating an object in-world. When you pull an object from your inventory it will “rez” into existence.
RL – Real life.
Ruthed – An error that causes you to appear in a Sim as the default female Avatar shape, whose name is Ruth, and not your customized appearance.
Sandbox – An area where anyone can create or rez objects. Public sandboxes are very popular with builders and griefers.
Shape – The shape of your Avatar’s body. New shapes can be applied to change your appearance and even turn into nonhumanoid things.
Sim – Short for Simulator. A 256 square meter block of land. Sims can further be divided into Parcels.
Skin – The texture applied to your Shape.
SL – Second Life.
SLT – Second Life Time. The same as Pacific Standard Time.
SLurl – Short for Second Life URL. Can be entered in a web browser to allow teleportation to a location within SL.
Skybox – A large open area in the sky above a Sim. Cannot be reached by unassisted flight. May contain floating platforms or buildings.
Telehub (Hub) – The place set by the owner of a region where avatars arrive when teleporting. Originally, avatars could only teleport to a single telehub per region, but it is now possible to teleport to any point in a region if the landowner allows it.
Teleport (TP) –The method of instantly moving from one place to another within Second Life.
Texture – An image applied to the surface of a Prim, clothing, or other surface in Second Life.
ToS – Terms of Service. The rules and legal terms for using Second Life.
University of Cincinnati Second life Learning Community – Second Life Slang
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 Unported License.
To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0
or send a letter to Creative Commons, 171 Second Street, Suite 300, San Francisco, California, 94105, USA.